Research collaboration pairs Yale experts with industry scientists to accelerate the development of new drugs to treat cancer

When Robert J. Alpern, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine, was asked recently to prepare a brief overview of the current state of drug discovery for a symposium at Yale’s West Campus, a familiar phrase came quickly to mind: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ...” It’s an apt description. On the one hand, we live in what some call the “post-Gleevec era,” a time when basic research conducted over decades is bearing fruit in the form of remarkably effective, targeted drugs.

The
Li
Ka
Shing
Foundation
(LKSF),
Asia’s
largest
philanthropic
organization,
has
made
a
$1.5
million
donation
to
the
Yale
Stem
Cell
Center
(YSCC).
The
donation
will
fund
improvements
in
two
of
the
YSCC’s
four
core
laboratories
that
will
benefit
the
work
of
more
than
60
faculty
members
and
numerous
trainees
across
the
campus.In
announcing
the
contribution,
Yale
University
President
Richard
C.
Levin
said,
“We
are
grateful
for
the
Li
Ka
Shing
Foundation’s
generosity,
which
benefits
today’s
medical
research
in
order
to
develop...

Out & About

February 18With a gift from Andrew Bronin, M.D., associate clinical professor of dermatology (left), the Department of Dermatology established the
Dr. Andrew Bronin Clinical Scholarship in Dermatology, one of two new endowments that will support young clinician–scholars in dermatology. Richard L. Edelson, M.D. (right), chair and Aaron B. and Marguerite Lerner Professor of Dermatology, says that the funds from the new endowments will enhance “the academic endeavors of clinician–scholars and their ability to shape the field.” The first endowment was started with a $1 million gift from School of Medicine alumna Marie-Louise T. Johnson, M.D., Ph.D., in 2010.

March 17On Match Dayeach spring, fourth-year students at medical schools across the country receive word of acceptance in residency training programs. At Yale, all of the 77 graduating medical students who had entered the National Resident Matching Program learned they had “matched.”

1. Adelina Hung congratulates Rajendra Sawh-Martinez.

March 17On Match Dayeach spring, fourth-year students at medical schools across the country receive word of acceptance in residency training programs. At Yale, all of the 77 graduating medical students who had entered the National Resident Matching Program learned they had “matched.”

2. Kseniya Golubetsand Annie Engberg.

March 17On Match Dayeach spring, fourth-year students at medical schools across the country receive word of acceptance in residency training programs. At Yale, all of the 77 graduating medical students who had entered the National Resident Matching Program learned they had “matched.”

April 15 Members of the U.S. Army held an event at the School of Medicine to describe the Army Medical Department’s humanitarian operations around the world. General Stanley McChrystal(Ret.), former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and now a senior fellow at Yale’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, was a featured speaker at the event, titled Common Ground: Army Medicine in Support of Humanity.

Carolyn W. Slayman, Ph.D., Sterling Professor of Genetics, professor of cellular and molecular physiology, and deputy dean for academic and scientific affairs (left), with McChrystal (center) and Army personnel.

April 15 Members of the U.S. Army held an event at the School of Medicine to describe the Army Medical Department’s humanitarian operations around the world. General Stanley McChrystal(Ret.), former commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and now a senior fellow at Yale’s Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, was a featured speaker at the event, titled Common Ground: Army Medicine in Support of Humanity.

A medical Deployable Rapid Assembly Shelter (DRASH) unit was on display in Harkness Ballroom. The unit, which includes a surgical bed and a variety of essential medical equipment, can be set up and functioning in less than an hour and represents the next level of care after battlefield treatment.

April 26At the Yale Club of New York City,Carolyn M. Mazure, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and psychology, associate dean for faculty affairs, and director of Women’s Health Research at Yale(WHRY), spoke about the latest biomedical research that WHRY is supporting and conducting. (From left) WHRY Advisory Council members Diane Young Turner; Kitty Northrop Friedman, J.D.; Mazure; Roslyn Milstein Meyer, Ph.D.; and Fran DeToro.

April 27The 32nd annual Seton Elm and Ivy Awards, presented at Yale’s Woolsey Hall, honored people and organizations that further partnership between New Haven and Yale.

New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr. (left) and Yale University President Richard Levin(right) with medical students Oluwarotimi Okunade, Charisse Mandimika, Amy Moreno, andJorge Ramallo-Pardoof the Yale chapters of the Student National Medical Association and Latino Medical Student Association, which were honored with an Ivy Award for their work encouraging New Haven high school students to pursue careers in the sciences and health professions.

April 27The 32nd annual Seton Elm and Ivy Awards, presented at Yale’s Woolsey Hall, honored people and organizations that further partnership between New Haven and Yale.

Georgina Lucas, deputy director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program at Yale, also received an Ivy Award.